10: College Athletic Apparel Deals with David Teel

In this episode, Peter Ott discusses the University of Virginia’s recent extension of its athletic apparel deal with Nike with David Teel, an award-winning columnist for the Daily Press, an newspaper that covers the Hampton Roads metro area of Virginia. Interestingly enough, neither Nike nor the University of Virginia seemed eager to publicize the deal much, which provides an interesting contrast to past agreements between universities and athletic apparel companies. Mr. Teel provides an interesting and informed perspective into this current deal and how these deals have evolved over time. You can follow Mr. Teel on twitter here or order his book “Press Pass: Thirty Years of Bylines, Headlines and Deadlines” here. Mr. Teel was able to learn about this detail through his reporting work.

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9: Discipline in Sports with Bob Latham

In this episode, Peter Ott discusses how discipline in sports with Bob Latham, a partner at the international law firm of Jackson Walker, LLP. Mr. Latham is also Chairman of the World Rugby Regulations Committee  and has extensive experience in developing and maintaining disciplinary processes in that capacity. Additionally, Mr. Latham has written a book entitled Winners & Losers: Rants, Riffs & Reflections on the World of Sports, which contains a series of anecdotes touching on the sports world. His wide-ranging experience in both the legal and sports worlds make him an authority on issues of sports discipline, which has been a hot topic as of late.

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7: MLB International Draft with Jeff Tiedeman

In this episode, Peter Ott discusses issues surrounding the potential introduction of an International Player Draft in Major League Baseball with Jeff Tiedeman.  Jeff wrote an article about a challenges and benefits of a proposed international draft in MLB that was published in the May 2014 edition of the Sports Lawyers Journal entitled “MLB International Player Draft: Home Run or Headache?” Jeff believes that although there are some obstacles to implementation of an international draft, having a workable draft would solve many problems in the current player acquisition system in baseball.

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6: Collegiate Athletic Conferences with Bernadette McGlade

In this episode, Peter Ott discusses issues involved in running a college athletic conference with Commissioner Bernadette McGlade of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They discuss the respective responsibilities of individual school athletic departments, athletic conferences, and the NCAA. They discuss differences between different athletic conferences across the NCAA. Commissioner McGlade speaks about how conference realignment affects the individual conferences. The discussion ends after analyzing the recent O’Bannon ruling by the 9th Circuit and what this means for the future of college sports. Commissioner McGlade has years of experience working in college sports and she brings an important perspective to this discussion.

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Episode 4: NCAA Issues with Sonny Vaccaro

In this episode (the second of a two part series), Peter Ott speaks with Sports Marketing legend Sonny Vaccaro about his advocacy on behalf of college athletes. Sonny was recently the subject of an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary entitled “Sole Man.” That movie looked at the broad outline of his life, from his start in Trafford, Pennsylvania to his signing of Michael Jordan to his first Nike deal to his recent advocacy on behalf of college athletes. In this podcast, Sonny discusses what he thinks is wrong with the current NCAA system. He outlines how he thinks that college athletes are being exploited by the NCAA and its member schools and he discusses the O’Bannon lawsuit.

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Episode 3: The Career of Sonny Vaccaro

In this episode (the first of a two part series), Peter Ott speaks with Sports Marketing legend Sonny Vaccaro about his career. Sonny was recently the subject of an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary entitled “Sole Man.” That movie looked at the broad outline of his life, from his start in Trafford, Pennsylvania to his signing of Michael Jordan to his first Nike deal to his recent advocacy on behalf of college athletes. This podcast starts with the assumption that listeners are already somewhat familiar with those aspects of Sonny’s life and explores some of the notable parts of Sonny’s life more in depth. This podcast brings out Sonny’s personality, as he discusses his personal and professional life and shares lessons that any #sportsbiz professional can take away from his life story.

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Special Preview of Upcoming Sonny Vaccaro Podcast

I just finished recording a new podcast with legendary sports marketing executive Sonny Vaccaro. It should be a good one, as we covered a wide variety of topics including his time with Nike, his dealing with Michael Jordan, his innovations in grassroots basketball, and his advocacy on behalf of college athletes. I plan on releasing it next week.

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Episode 2 – Baseball Antitrust Exemption with Gordon Hylton

In this episode, Peter Ott discusses Baseball’s Antitrust Exemption with UVA Law Professor Gordon Hylton. Antitrust law is designed to protect consumers from anticompetitive practices by monopolies or groups of businesses. Most sports leagues are subject to antitrust laws in some way, however, Major League Baseball has historically enjoyed an exemption from the applicability of these laws. This greatly affects the “playing field” upon which professional baseball operates. Peter and Professor Hylton discuss why this antitrust exemption exists and what are its practical effects on baseball players, owners, and fans.

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Podcast Episode One – Deflategate with Ian Gunn

Today I am proud to release the first official episode of the Sports Law Biz Podcast. This is a full length podcast episode, lasting for 34 minutes. You can listen to it here on this blog post or you can follow this link and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. If you subscribe, this and future episodes will be downloaded directly to your computer or mobile device and you will never miss one in the future. You can also find the episode on Soundcloud, Stitcher, and Youtube.

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Deflategate and the NFLPA

This past Thursday, amid all of the “Deflategate” news, I came across the following three-minute long discussion between NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith and ESPN Legal Analyst Roger Cossack on ESPN.com:

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